


Day 1: The Way of the Waltz (Music/Dance)

by 8_Shoop_de_woops



Series: Genyatta Week 2018 [1]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Anahardt is a small part, Casual Ballroom Dancing, F/M, M/M, My First AO3 Post, Small Dance Party, Zen can be a bad teacher sometimes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-17 10:46:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13657425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/8_Shoop_de_woops/pseuds/8_Shoop_de_woops
Summary: Genji knows how to keep up with fast-paced music and complicated patterns of dance moves, but Zenyatta wants to teach him something a little slower and more formal.





	Day 1: The Way of the Waltz (Music/Dance)

Genji left the meeting room, his mind swimming from all of the information he had to process. Numbers and charts floated by in his vision, and he could hear the buzzing of indistinct yet concerned voices repeating things about keeping quiet and illegal activities and close calls and--"Hey, Genji!" He shook his head to clear his thoughts and turned to the source of the voice. Lúcio waved his hand and motioned for him to come over. Genji obliged and followed him. "That was a lot to take in, huh?" Lúcio grinned as Genji sighed. "Tell me about it," he replied. "I don't even remember half of what Jack said." "Well hey, don't worry about it," Lúcio reassured him. "Lena, a few others, and I were talkin' about having a little mini-dance party to get rid of some of the tension from all this stress about staying concealed and undercover, since we're illegal and all that." A childish smile crept onto Genji's face under his visor. "Will you be taking requests?" he asked. "You know it!" Lúcio answered cheerfully. "Great! I will come help you set up!" Genji responded.

After some time and an argument about whether or not they needed a "responsible adult" to keep watch, the party (supervised by Mei-Ling Zhou) was ready to start. Lúcio was behind his DJ stand, preparing for requests from any of the guests: Lena, Hana, Genji, Orisa, or Efi. "Just make sure they're appropriate; we have slightly younger ears here!" he reminded them. Efi crossed her arms and huffed in a pretend-annoyed way. Orisa glanced at Efi and, after a second or two, pointed to herself with an inquisitive look. Lúcio nodded, and she gave him a thumbs-up, to which he chuckled at. "Alright, let's get this party started!" he exclaimed excitedly, but just before he put on the first song, a voice called out, "I hope I am not intruding at an inconvenient time." Everyone turned towards the door and saw Zenyatta hovering in the doorframe. "Master!" Genji said, surprised at his sudden appearance. "What are you doing here? Did you want to join us?" "On the contrary, I was wondering if I could ask you to come with me for a while," Zenyatta replied. "Umm, sure, I suppose," Genji answered, confusion clear in his voice. He turned back to Lúcio as he was leaving and called out, "You can start without me; I'll be fine!" As he closed the door, he heard the first song come on and felt the bass thrumming in his chest. Glancing back at his master, he quickly jogged to catch up with him.

"So what did you call me for?" Genji inquired as they continued to stroll down hallways of the base. "I had heard that you and a few other members were having a 'dance party', so I decided that I wanted to teach you a dance," Zenyatta explained. Genji turned to Zenyatta, a skeptical look on his face hidden behind his mask. "You? Teach _me_ how to dance?" he asked, unconvinced. "You doubt your teacher?" Zenyatta retorted innocently. "Of course not, master," Genji assured him. "I am merely curious as to how it will turn out." Zenyatta let out a small chuckle and muttered, "As am I." "What's that supposed to mean?" Genji asked worriedly, but Zenyatta didn't elaborate on it for the rest of the walk. Wanting to know _something_ about what was going to happen, Genji asked, "Where are we going, anyway?" Zenyatta vaguely replied, "A quiet place to practice."

They finally stopped at a large, isolated facility close to the edge of the watchpoint. From the outside, judging by the cracks and moss on the wall, Genji noted that this building must have not been used in a long time. Noticing Genji's examinations of the place, Zenyatta stated, "Looks can be deceiving." To prove his point, he opened the door and allowed Genji a minute to gaze around the room. It was surprisingly large, with a tall ceiling and a lot of space between the four walls. There seemed to be no sign of disrepair on the inside; the floors were a startling white, the lights were all working, and the walls looked as if they were brand-new. There was also a small table with miscellaneous building items such as paint brushes, hammers, and screwdrivers, among other things. Zenyatta explained, "Torbjörn found this building while he was looking for a place for Bastion to stay. He asked Reinhardt if he would help him with rebuilding it, but I happened to overhear and volunteered to help as well. Though Torbjörn looked a bit skeptical, Reinhardt said that it could be used as a chance to show that human and omnic can work together. Since then, Reinhardt, Torbjörn, Bastion and I have all been working on things such as fixing the lights, repainting the walls, and sweeping the floors to restore this room to its former glory." "That would explain where you have been for the past few days," Genji replied, still marveling at the wonderful state of the room. "Yes, well, I apologize for not telling you about it sooner," Zenyatta said guiltily, looking down in shame. "Y-you don't have to be upset, master!" Genji quickly assured him. Trying to switch the topic, he asked, "Weren't you going to teach me about a dance?" Zenyatta perked up as he remembered his reason for bringing Genji to this room and replied, "Why yes, I was."

Excited about what was in store, Genji stood still, waiting for his teacher's instructions. Zenyatta floated in front of him and began his lesson. "Today you will learn a dance called a 'waltz'." "'Waltz'?" Genji repeated. "I have never heard of a 'waltz'." "It is an old, traditional dance made by humans that was performed in a 'ballroom'," Zenyatta lectured. "'Ballroom'? Wait...this is one of those slow dances!" Genji blurted out his realization. Zenyatta nodded his head as Genji groaned in exasperation. "Patience, Genji. Perhaps it is more difficult than you think," Zenyatta suggested. Genji scoffed and replied confidently, "I doubt that." "Then let us begin," Zenyatta said. "First, you must learn the 'box step', an important component in many ballroom dances. Put your left foot here." He indicated to a spot on the floor. Genji rolled his eyes behind his visor and followed his instructions. "Good. Next, make your right foot level with your left foot with some space between," Zenyatta continued. Genji stretched his legs far enough to almost do a split. Zenyatta laughed and chided playfully, "Not _that_ much space!" Genji sighed and moved his right foot to a reasonable spot. "Now bring your left foot to your right foot." Genji did so. "Now, you must move your right foot backwards," Zenyatta instructed. Genji leaned back on his right foot, but stumbled and almost lost his balance. Zenyatta giggled as Genji growled quietly and asked, "What's next?" Regaining his composure, Zenyatta followed up with, "Next, you bring your left foot to the left, where you started." Genji did as Zenyatta said. "Finally, bring your right foot to your left foot." As Genji brought his feet together, Zenyatta proclaimed, "Well done; you have completed your first box step." "That was incredibly simple," Genji complained. "Yes, but now you must keep your hands in the waltz position, and be able to do the box step with a rhythm," Zenyatta replied. "And what is this 'waltz position'?" asked Genji. Zenyatta grabbed his hands and explained how it would work. "First, your right hand will go on my shoulder blade, while my right hand is on your shoulder "--Genji felt the strange presence of his master's hand on top of his arm--"and our left hands will be held together," Zenyatta finished. "Now, you will complete the steps I taught you in time with my counting," he continued.

"One." Genji moved his left foot forwards. "Two". He brought his right foot to the side. "Three". He brought his feet together. "One." He stepped back with his right foot but stumbled again. "Two," Zenyatta said with a few giggles. Genji moved his left foot and leaned a bit too much to the side, almost bringing them both to the ground. He immediately righted himself, embarrassed at his trouble with an easy move. Zenyatta continued to chuckle as he said, "Three," and Genji brought his feet together once again. This routine lasted for a while, and Genji began tripping more and more over his own feet, while Zenyatta's giggles turned into peals of laughter at his pupil's overconfidence. Feeling his systems start to heat up, he asked, "What's so funny?" Zenyatta replied, "I merely find it amusing that a nimble ninja is having some trouble with a ballroom dance." Genji protested, "Why don't _you_ have to do it? You just continue to float!" "Mmm, perhaps when you learn to hover, you might not have to learn this dance," Zenyatta replied with an air of smugness, deliberately not answering his student's question. If Zenyatta had a mouth, Genji swore it would have a huge grin right now. "Alright, that's it!" Genji smirked under his visor. He leaned into Zenyatta, pushing them both to the ground. "Maybe you should use this floor that you've worked so hard on cleaning," he suggested, giggling impishly. In between chuckles, Zenyatta replied, "Maybe I will." He pulled Genji into a hug, then broke into laughter again as he felt Genji nuzzle against his neck. Suddenly, a voice rang out and said, "I take it that we've come at a bad time."

Genji bolted upright onto his knees and whirled around to see Ana leaning against the doorway, a wide smirk on her face. Behind her was Reinhardt, trying to keep a blank expression, though his smiling eyes betrayed his stoic look. Genji quickly stood up and helped Zenyatta to his floating position and asked, "H-how long have you two been there?" "Long enough to know that you two need a demonstration," Reinhardt replied as he ducked through the doorframe, carrying an old radio. Ana followed behind him, the smile still not gone from her face. Reinhardt gently pushed aside some of the tools and placed the radio on the table. He pushed the "Start" button, and the room was filled with sounds of old instruments like violins and basses and pianos. Reinhardt bowed and extended his hand to Ana. "May I have this dance?" he asked, looking up with a cheeky grin. Ana placed a hand to her heart and replied, "Of course." They took up the waltzing position and began to dance around the room. Genji and Zenyatta stepped back and stayed near the wall as they watched the couple move, their steps in time with the music, and their eyes only on each other. Genji stared at the two, the beauty of the dance finally dawning on him as he imagined Zenyatta and himself performing it. Zenyatta leaned close to him and said in a low voice, "Perhaps we should leave them to it." Genji nodded, and they silently crept out of the building and closed the door.

As they started walking back to the main part of the base, the sun began to set over on the horizon. Zenyatta asked, "How did you feel your lesson went today?" Genji looked at him and repsonded, "Terribly." They both chuckled as Genji continued, "But I would not mind learning it again." "I am glad to hear that," Zenyatta said. A silence filled the air for a moment before Zenyatta expressed, "I believe that the party might be over now. I apologize for us taking so long." "I don't mind," Genji reassured him. He held Zenyatta's hand in his and said, "I think my private dance lesson was much more entertaining." Zenyatta glanced down at their clasped hands and rested his head on Genji's shoulder as they slowly made their way back to the residential part of the base. Once there, they went to the living room and sat on an empty couch. Seeing all of the guests and more members, Genji deduced that Zenyatta was right: the party had ended. Lúcio hopped onto the cushion next to Genji and asked, "Hey, you two were gone for a while. What happened?" "Oh, just a dance session gone long," Genji replied nonchalantly. "A dance session?" Lúcio repeated dubiously. "Yes," Zenyatta affirmed, nodding his head. "Alright then. Must've been fun," Lúcio said. "It was," Genji said. "Master Zenyatta taught me the--" but when he turned to look at Lúcio, he was already gone. "It is alright Genji," Zenyatta said. "Not all of us can be the 'life of the party'." He pointed to his left, where Lúcio was gesturing wildly while talking with some other members. "I'm alright with that, if it means I get to spend some more time with you," Genji replied. He wrapped his arm around Zenyatta's waist, leaned into his shoulder, and let the chattering of his teammates fade into the background as he gradually fell asleep next to his master.

**Author's Note:**

> Whew, 2000 words! Considering my goal was to have at least 500, I think I can say that was a success! As my first fanfic on Ao3, I'm open for criticism, and I can't wait for the next day's post!


End file.
